Cal Phipps, driving for the team that won the 2013 unlimited hydroplane championship, says this year brings his best chance yet to win the Gold Cup.
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Cal Phipps can hardly control himself.

The Sterling Heights resident is about to take his fourth run at the Gold Cup, and he believes this is his best opportunity yet to win unlimited hydroplane racing’s most prized trophy.

“I tear up thinking about it,” Phipps said. “I’m very excited.”

Phipps, 45, made his debut in the U-7 Graham Trucking hydroplane at the season-opening event at Madison, Ind., last weekend.

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After finishing in sixth place in qualifying, and taking third twice and second once in heat races, Phipps drove to a third-place finish in the final on the 2-mile Ohio River course.

“It sounds like our boat fared pretty well,” Phipps said after talking with team members who prepared the U-7 for this weekend’s DYC Detroit APBA Gold Cup on the Detroit River.

“Coming out with third place, and surviving without any bad damage, I feel we had a successful weekend,” Phipps said.

“It was my first weekend in the boat; I’m still learning about it. It drove beautifully.”

Phipps is driving a second Graham Trucking entry for owner Ted Porter.

Phipps’ boat and the U-1 driven by J. Michael Kelly, who won the Madison final, have T-5 and T-6 hulls that previously were part of the Miss Budweiser livery.

“They’ve shown their worth,” Phipps said. “They’re two of the fastest hulls ever built. They’re a couple of really nice pieces, and Ted Porter always keeps them in great shape.

“The 7 does tend to run light. I have to pay attention to that.”

The Graham Trucking U-5 won the 2013 H1 Unlimited High Points championship with Jimmy Shane driving.

Kelly, who was hired to drive the U-1 in November 2013, is in second place on the High Points list. Phipps is fourth.

Phipps, who graduated from Warren High School, has won seven national championships in Grand National racing.

He turned laps in the U-5 at Sacramento last year as the backup to Shane, who was awaiting the birth of a child.

It turned out Shane didn’t have to leave the boat because his child was born after the Sacramento race, but Phipps’ appearance made the right impression on Porter.

“I was on my ‘best behavior,’ if you want to call it that,” Phipps said. “In those situations, you never know who’s looking. You always want to do your best.

“Over the winter, Graham decided they wanted to run two boats, and Ted Porter chose me to drive.”

The Gold Cup starts Friday with testing and qualifying.

Heat races will be run Saturday and Sunday, and the Gold Cup final is Sunday afternoon.

“Stay right-side up,” Phipps said when asked about the key to a good weekend racing on the Detroit River.

“The whole course,” he added, “is really, really tricky. Every inch of the course has different dynamics.”

Perhaps no place on the Detroit circuit is as perilous as the so-called “rooster-tail turn,” the one boats negotiate after they barrel down the back straightaway, away from the Belle Isle Bridge.

“There’s nothing like it on any other course we run,” Phipps said. “You carry a ton of speed coming down the backstretch. You’re going over 200 (mph), and then you go into a hairpin turn.

“I know how heavy these boats are. But they seem so tiny and light going through that rooster-tail turn.

“You have to drive on the edge to be fast.”

Kip Brown won the Gold Cup last year, but he is not racing yet this season.

Shane, who now drives the U-6 Oberto, has the High Points lead.

Jon Zimmerman, who drives the U-9 for Jones Racing, is third.

This year, the field of Gold Cup contenders does not include Dave Villwock, who used to dominate the circuit, Detroit included.

Nor does it include Steve David, who was a perennial contender in Detroit.

Both are retired.

“Any driver will tell you that getting his name on the Gold Cup is at the top of his list,” Phipps said. “Not only do I have a chance to get my name on it, but I have a chance to do it in front of family, friends and fans.

“I feel that I’m the best prepared that I’ve ever been. I feel I have some of the best equipment under me. This is probably going to be my best shot at winning.”